Draft key retainer



p 1933- c. HICKS I 1,925,923

DRAFT KEY RETAINER 7 Filed Feb. 24, 1930 fig. .10

, q 3 Q's? has? C/77Crf5 /9 Z3 Z2 3/ ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRAFT KEY RETAINER Irving C. Hicks, Topeka, Kans.

Application February 24, 1930. Serial No. 430,599 2 Claims. (01. 21361) My invention relates to draft rigging for railroad cars in which draft sills and draft gears are provided with slots to receive keys for connecting couplers or drawbars with the car sills.

Draft keys are usually provided with holes to receive pins for retaining the keys to prevent dislodgment thereof and consequent accidental uncoupling of the rigging while in service. The coupler-engaged keys are. movable in the slots of the sills and yokes of the gears to permit operation of shock-absorbing means such as springs mounted in the yokes, and a multiplicity of movements of the couplers and shocks and stresses received by the rigging, due to operation of a train tend to loosen and displace the retaining pins and permit the keys to be jarred from the rigging.

The principal objects of my invention therefore are to assure retention of a draft key in draft rigging, to provide eflicient key-retaining means that will strengthen draft rigging, and to look a key-retainer to draft rigging, whereby accidental uncoupling of the rigging will be avoided and safety of train operation will be promoted.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided improved details of structure, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing,

wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view partly in section of one type of draft-rigging equipped with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same partly in section and partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my device partly disassembled, a key-retaining plate being shown fragmentarily.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44, Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view, through my shaft key retainer as applied to a draft sill which does not employ a cheek plate.

Referring in detail to the drawing:

1 and 2 designate draft sills of a type provided in ordinary railroad car construction, comprising spaced parallel channels having out- -wardly directed edge flanges forming recesses 3 and 4 and provided with elongated key slots 5. The front ends of the channels are braced and reenforced by a tie plate 6.-

Mounted between the channels is a yoke or strap pocket including side arms 7 and 8 provided with slots 9 registering with the slots of the channels to receive keys 10 having heads 11 55 and insertable through the sills 1 and 2 for retaining a coupler 12 in engagement with the draft gear and sills.

The type of draft rigging illustrated is that in which two draft keys are employed, one extending through a slot in the shank 13 of the coupler and one through the enlarged coupler butt 14, and in which a spring 15 is contained by the yoke for receiving and dissipating shocks received by the coupler to prevent damage to train equipment.

The rigging may further include cheek plates 16 and 17 mounted in the recesses of the channels having openings 18 registering with the slots 9, inner right angular flanges 19 at said openings engaging the edges of said slots, and outer flanges 20 projecting laterally from the webs of the channels as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the inner and outer flanges cooperating to define the openings in the plates and form passages for the keys. The flanges 20 form stop walls to engage the heads of the keys to limit inward movement thereof.

The slots and openings are elongated longitudinally of the sills to permit limited movement of the keys and coupler forwardly under draft stress and rearwardly under impact of shocks against the resistance of the spring.

My invention pertains to a key-retaining device including a slotted cheek plate or attaching flange member 21 having apertures 22 to receive rivets 23 for securing the device to the web of the sill 1, and a body portion or housing 24 comprising preferably a solid block of metal cast integrally with the flange and having a thickened outer portion 25 and rectangular slots 26 and'27 for admitting keys to the sill and yoke slots. The slot 26 extends to a point adjacent'the front end face of the body to'provide an end wall 28, the slots are spaced by a partitionor web 29, and the rear end of the slot 27 is spaced sufli ciently from the rear end face of the body to provide a relatively thick rear end wall 30 for a purpose presently disclosed.

Ribs 31 formed integrally with the attaching flange and the sides of the body have hook-like portions 32 extending over the outer face 33 thereof for reenforcing the structure, and rib 34 formed at the rear end of the attaching flange reenforces the rear end face of the body, the attaching flange, body and ribs preferably comprising a single integral casting projecting laterally from the channel or draft sill 1.

Formed in the body portion 24 adjacent the outer face thereof and parallel to said face, is a rectangular channel 35 intersecting the slots v the" e snugly r'clve'a detaining or latching plate or bar 41 for locking the keeper plate in the channel, the slot terminating slightly below the bottom of the adjacent slot 27 to form a socket for receiving and supporting the bar 41 "with the upper end thereof projecting beyond the upper face of the body.

An ear 42 is formed on the upper face of the wall 30 at the front edge of the slot 40 and provided with an opening 43 to receive a rivet'44 adapted to be mounted in a corresponding opening'45'i'n the projecting upper end offthedetainingbar 41 for securingsaid bar in plate-retaining'positi'ont" V when-th draft rigging is provided with the cheekjfpla'te" 16 "above described, the, attaching che'ekffplajte and attaching flange may be seclltetitdth web of the" sill'l; 'by' common fastening means such as the rivets 23as particularly illustrated in Fig. 4, the outer flanges ofthe housing sufficiently to permit insertion of the 29niay 'be're'duced' to fit the body to the 'por-" tionjs' of the flanges at the ends of the slots in thegheek plate 16. Y

'Wlien" the draft rigging provides for employment of two keys as intheillustrated'usage' and two slots are providedflin 'the 'body, (Figs; 1

and 3) twofkeeperplates '39jand 39' are pro vid'e'd in'the body channel, the first keeper plate beingmoyejdiriwardl to 'cover the for ward slot, andith second"plateinserted to fol- 16w ana'atut th'e" firsfplate, the abutting ,ends thereof lying in jthe partition 29' andb'ciiig held a s'inthebody channel.

p1 t V the attachingfflange' is secured to the draft si l or channel 1' A through" 1a Idraiftik'yf iS lid be inserted to a draft rtlie'sfqp jvlalllrfoi"example;by mounting the attaching flange on; a 'clfijeek'fpla'te suei' jas deserns "itoieffct registry. between, the slot. or

- The ,keys for-r use" with? rigging";provided/with my device do not {require pin re'cei'ving openings inserted through the ri gan their aflieyfi to ,thefpro 'ec into,assure'relativ iy rigidiethtioiibfithgi through the slot ma Be" ear 1 suitable? 'fasten- Jolts, jars, shocks or stresses due to movement of the car on which the rigging is mounted and equipment to which the rigging may be connected which will tend to dislodge a key retaining pin, may cause the key to shift and jar the keeper plate without disturbing the same, since the keeper plate will be securly retained in the body channel by locking bar.

Dislodgment of the locking bar is prevented due both to its relatively secure engagement in the slot of the housing and to the fact that it is fastened to the projecting ear.

When the draft key is to be removed for uncoupling the rigging, the rivet may be fractured, -thelocking bar removed and the keeper plate displaced.

While the device has been illustrated as applied to a draft rigging having two sets of horizontally aligned slots for horizontal insertion and position of draft keys, the device may be a plied to rigging having differently arranged parts and one or more sets of slots without departingfrom'the spirit of the invention 'In Fig. 5 1 illustrate a type of draft rigging which does notemploy the cheek platesand the retainenmemberas shown is applied directly'to the' face of'the draft sill; However, the construction of the retainer is substantially identical to that illustrated in Fig. 4.

What I cla Patentis:

1. In combination with the draft key and cheek plateof'adraft rigging, a draft key rekey and having a channel extending ac'ross'th'e' slot to "provide upper and lower internal grooves about the slot, a flange on the block substantially the same'widthfand length as the cheek plate for overlying and'reinforcing said cheek plate; ribs integral with the flange and block and having hook-like portions extending over the outerfface of the block, fastening devices extending through said flange and cheek plate, a keeper plate slidable through said channel and having its edges engaged in said grooves whereby the sides and ends of'the keeper plate are supported against lateral movement in the block, said block having an upwardly opening slot at right anglesto and of greater width than the channeland terminating below said'lower groovejjand a bar seated in said last'nanied slot for closing saidslot to retain saidrkeepr plate.

2 A draft key retainer including a block having'a pairof rectangular slots extending therethrough to admit thefhea'ds' 'of a pairoffdraft keys and having a longitudinal channel extending from one endpftheblock and intersecting the periphery of each slot to form peripherally extending guide'grooves around the slots, a web spacing said slots, a pair of keeper plates in said channel having edges engaged in the guide grooves and havingadjacent ends covered by said web, said block fhavingan upwardly opening slot intersecting the channel and of greaterwidth than the; channel; a bar seated in said last named slot for closing the open end of the channel to hold the keeper plates in position for each retaining a draft key, and means for: securing said bar to the block. 1 p 1 a BV NGC- HI K 

